Each community near a hazardous waste site has different needs. At some
sites, community members have many health concerns and want to be active
in the public health assessment process. At other sites, community members
are not as concerned about the site's effect on their health.

Open communication between the public health assessment team and community
members is critical to the process. Without good communication, the public
health assessment team might miss important information to help evaluate
health issues, and some community concerns could go unanswered.

This section explains how a health assessor, as leader of the public
health assessment team, involves the community from the beginning of a
site investigation to the end of the investigation. In developing community
involvement activities, the health assessor might focus on the following
topics.

Topic 1.
Defining the community and identifying initial contacts.

Topic 2.
Developing ways to communicate with community members.
Topic 3.
Ensuring clear presentation of information between the community and the
team.

Why is community involvement important?

Community involvement is important because many types of information
about a site are needed to thoroughly evaluate health issues at a hazardous
waste site. It is important for community members to provide the health
assessor with information about the site being investigated and the concerns
they have about the site. For instance, the health assessor might note
that the site is fenced, but after talking with community members, the
health assessor might learn that the gate to the fence was open for months
and that neighborhood children used the site as a baseball field during
that time.